This disclosure relates generally to presentation of content by an online system, and more specifically to presenting content allowing a user to purchase an item within an application.
An online system, such as a social networking system, allows its users to connect to and communicate with other online system users. Users may create profiles on an online system that are tied to their identities and include information about the users, such as interests and demographic information. The users may be individuals or entities such as corporations or charities. Because of the increasing popularity of online systems and the increasing amount of user-specific information maintained by online systems, an online system provides an ideal forum for entities, such as retailers or service providers, to increase awareness about products or services by presenting content to online system users.
Presenting content items to online system users allows an entity (e.g., a retailer, a service provider, a restaurant) to gain public attention for products or services or to persuade online users to take an action regarding the entity's products or services. Additionally, many online systems generate revenue by receiving compensation from entities for presenting certain content items to their users. Frequently, online systems charge an entity for each presentation of certain types of content items to an online system user (e.g., each “impression” of the content item) or for each interaction with certain types of content items by an online system user.
Additionally, users may interact with applications via the online system or applications that exchange information with the online system. For example, a user interacts with a game application or a music streaming application to interact with additional content than content provided by the online system. Many applications allow users to purchase or acquire items for use within the application to increase the functionality of the application to the user. However, conventional applications require a user to purchase items by directly interacting with the application, which reduces user interaction with the online system and may increase the time for a user to purchase an item for use in the application.